Chapter 2 — The File Worth Two Million Dollars
Damien turned.
His mother's face had lost every trace of elegance.
For the first time in his life, Victoria Mercer looked frightened.
Not angry.
Not controlling.
Afraid.
She reached him in seconds.
"Come with me."
Her voice was low but urgent.
"Now."
Damien didn't move.
His eyes never left the twins.
"They're mine."
It wasn't a question anymore.
It was a realization.
Victoria grabbed his arm.
"You don't know what you're saying."
"I know exactly what I'm looking at."
Mara quietly pulled Ethan and Noah closer.
"Come on, boys."
But Ethan frowned.
"Mom... why is that lady crying?"
Victoria hadn't realized tears were streaming down her face.
Years of perfect composure shattered in front of strangers.
"Mara."
Victoria finally looked at her.
"What do you want?" Mara asked calmly.
Victoria swallowed.
"We need to talk."
"We already did."
"Five years ago."
"And you paid me to disappear."
Damien slowly turned toward his mother.
"What is she talking about?"
Silence.
"Mother."
Victoria closed her eyes.
"I did what was necessary."
"What did you do?"
She reached into her handbag with trembling fingers.
Instead of answering, she pulled out a folded document.
Mara recognized it immediately.
The confidentiality agreement.
The one she had refused to sign.
Damien snatched it from Victoria's hand.
His eyes scanned the first page.
Then the second.
His breathing stopped.
Two million dollars.
Payment offered to Mara Bennett in exchange for permanently leaving Damien Mercer and never revealing the existence of the pregnancy.
Signed by Victoria Mercer.
Not Mara.
He looked up.
"You tried to buy my child?"
Victoria's lips trembled.
"I was protecting this family."
"No."
Damien's voice cracked.
"You were protecting yourself."
Mara said nothing.
She didn't need to.
The truth had begun speaking for itself.
Then Damien noticed one final attachment.
A DNA report.
Completed five years earlier.
Probability of paternity...
99.999%.
His knees nearly gave way.
"You knew."
Victoria couldn't deny it.
"I've always known."
Everything Damien believed about the last five years collapsed in a single breath.
His mother hadn't simply hidden the truth.
May you like
She had stolen five years of his children's lives.
And his own.
